Friday, January 6, 2012

State Department Fighting For Nursing Home Residents

Many of the posts in this blog talk about the poor conditions currently existing in some nursing homes and the abuse and neglect that some residents suffer in these facilities. The different types of abuse and neglect can sometimes be difficult to spot, which is why specific cases can occur for years without the family becoming aware of the condition. In addition to family members being vigilant and attentive to conditions within nursing homes, the state government also keeps an eye on the facilities as well.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health serves many roles for our state. One of these roles is to examine and inspect nursing home facilities to make sure that they are meeting the physical, mental, and emotional needs of their residents appropriately. Using several people and a multi-faceted approach, the DOT sends in a team of surveyors to nursing homes to inspect every aspect of the operations of the facility. Nursing homes that have had more violations are inspected more frequently. If a nursing home fails to meet expectations in certain areas, they can be fined, be subject to other penalties, or have parts or their entire operation shut down. In 2010, the Department of Health exercised state enforcement actions in 31 situations, and ranged from revoking licenses to bans on admissions. In this way, the state government keeps an eye on nursing home operations just as family members are doing.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer specializing in nursing home abuse as wellas automobile accidents. For more information on his firms, please click here.